Touring bands looking to extend tours or fill in gaps between recording albums often will employ the “we’re playing our most popular/critically-acclaimed album front to back” tour concept as it gives fans what they want and beg for. This isn’t something you see too often in a local scene because, let’s face it, there aren’t a whole lot of bands out there making more than one or two records so their catalog of songs is rather shallow.

Ghost Shirt has proven to be one of the more prolific Columbus bands in recent history, writing and recording as if the world might end tomorrow (It’s not, silly. The end of the world isn’t coming until next year so Ghost Shirt still has time to crank out another 50 or 60 songs). So it’s not unusual to hear a hodgepodge of songs, ranging from material from the first album (Domestique) to selections from their 52 singles in 52 weeks project to freshly written, yet-to-be-recorded tracks at any given live show (and, if you haven’t noticed, there are plenty of Ghost Shirt appearances around town).

The Postcard from Hell community, which started out as a meeting place for Uncle Tupelo fans but expanded to all things alt-country/folk-influenced/rural-pop, fell in love with Ghost Shirt’s late 2010 offering, Daniel, and named it one of their top albums of 2010. We’re very lucky – and fortunate – to have the band pulling out the “front-to-back” card for their performance Friday night at the Donew8ing show. This might be the first time Ghost Shirt has played the album in it’s entirety and knowing what fervent songwriters they are, it might be the last time they limit themselves to just this particular batch of songs.

Our eighth anniversary show, Donew8ing, is a week from tomorrow at Kobo (formerly Oldfield’s on High). We’ve got a sweet Reno poster coming soon, but, till then, here’s a few more things to get excited about:

– The first 50 people through the door will receive a free vodka or gin drink, compliments of Watershed Distillery, based right here in Columbus. So come early.

– Ghost Shirt will be playing through their album Daniel, from front to back. If you haven’t heard it yet, stream it or buy it for a buck on Bandcamp. Really looking forward to hearing the whole thing live.

We’ll also be recording all the sets to pick out some gems for you guys to have as a Donew8ing keepsake. We’ll keep you posted on that.

When I look back on 2010, I’ll always think of it as the year of big things for Donewaiting, namely the addition of Donewaiting TV where we started featuring video sessions by touring bands recorded at Electraplay Studio. The guys out there – Tony Stewart, James Allison, Nathan Photos, Matt Grady, Jason Sidwell (and any others I may have forgotten) – do such great work filming bands, recording audio, producing videos, and building relationships with bands, publicists, management, etc.

In addition to the awesome work they’ve done in collaboration with Donewaiting, Nathan, James and Matt perform some funkified, electro-keyboard rock under the name The Town Monster and have quietly been releasing tons of music in 2010. While Ghost Shirt took on the “52 songs in 52 weeks” task, The Town Monster recorded a new 3 or 4-song EP every month and posted on Bandcamp.

Last night, The Town Monster held an exclusive viewing party for A Town Monster Christmas, a 20-minute cartoon/holiday special of which we’ve never seen the likes of in Columbus before and we’re very happy to be sharing the video (animated by Nathan Photos) with you.

If 2009 was the year of Larry Jon Wilson, 2010 was the year of Bill Fox and the Gibson Bros. I think I listened to Bill Fox’s two reissued albums — Shelter from the Smoke and Transit Byzantium — more than anything else. (Shelter got a deluxe vinyl reissue, and Scat promises a similar treatment for Transit in 2011.) Go get ’em. And working on a story about the Gibson Bros. reunion show back in July occupied my brainspace and held my interest for months. I don’t know if CDR has any copies of the Build a Raft reissue left, but if they do, it’s required listening for any Columbus music fan or anyone with a passing interest in twisted, noisy country/blues/rock.

But in terms of new stuff, here’s what I liked this year, starting with national releases and ending with Cowtown LPs.

1. Strand of Oaks – Pope Killdragon
I didn’t immediately hit repeat when I heard this album, but once I came back to it, I never stopped. Who knew a record with songs about John Belushi (from the perspective of Dan Akroyd), a 12-foot man and JFK could be so engrossing. Devastating, too. If you think Tim Showalter is just another pretty-voiced folkie, the layers of synth and Sabbath-like riffs on “Giant’s Despair” prove otherwise. The best way to get Killdragon digitally or on vinyl is through Strand of Oaks’ Kickstarter page.

If you’ve been wondering why we haven’t had any Ghost Shirt singles for the 52 Singles in 52 Weeks project in a while, it’s because the band has been holed up recording a 10-song album called Daniel. Stream it below and head on over to Ghost Shirt’s Bandcamp page to pay $1 or more for it; any money will go toward releasing this record and Domestique on vinyl next year.

Ghost Shirt: “This song is the culminating product of 4 months of heartache, loss, elation, grief and learning. We would like to thank our Columbus fans and bands we love and respect, Buffalo crew and the folks from Postcards from Hell for listening and keeping us going. I’m not even sure if it’s a good song but it was something that needed to be written for me to get my head straight. Again, we miss you Andy and thank you for all that you did.”